


Wish Upon Some Ruffled Feathers

by SamCyberCat



Series: Wish Upon a... [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 06:58:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13382568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamCyberCat/pseuds/SamCyberCat
Summary: The Hazuki family were troublesome farmers who bothered harpies like Rei with their scarecrows and their loud noises. And yet Nagisa, the loudest Hazuki of all, didn't bother Rei nearly as much as the rest.





	Wish Upon Some Ruffled Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 2 – Fantasy for Regisa Week 2018. An AU where Rei is a harpy and Nagisa is a farmhand. This is set in the same AU as my MakoHaru fic “Wish Upon a Dried Frog's Leg”, but you don't need to have read that fic to understand this one.

As Rei was returning to Iwatobi from a long flight, he saw a flock of birds rise up to join him in the air from one of the surrounding fields. Rei frowned. He knew who those fields belonged to and he knew what would have spooked the birds into setting off so suddenly. Despite Rei's best efforts to give the Hazuki family stern talks into the welfare and rights of both avian citizens and feral birds alike, their actions continued.

Perhaps Rei would've ignored this on any other day, but it was his moulting season and that always put him in a bad mood. Whoever was in the field would regret crossing Rei on a day like today.

He altered his flight pattern and made way towards the field that the birds had come from, chirping to them soothingly as he went past. It didn't do much to calm their nerves though and Rei soon heard why. As well as the usual badly-made scarecrows, the field in question was filled with the noise of clattering pans, that emitted from a large speaker. It wasn't only the birds who were disturbed by the noise, but several other local animals as well.

Humans could be so inconsiderate...

Rei perched himself on top of one of the scarecrows' shoulders as he landed and it sagged under his weight. He was, after all, a fully grown harpy and an impressive height, even for his own species. Still, he sat there without remorse until he saw the sight of something bobbing through the field.

It wasn't obvious at first that something – or someone – was coming towards him. The golden corn in the field had grown to an impressive height, probably due to magical assistance, and the hair of the short person who skipped through it was just as yellow as the corn itself.

“Rei! Hey, Rei! Good to see you!”

Nagisa burst out through the corner and rushed over to the scarecrow with a wide, shameless grin plastered across his face. He was waving his arms about in a way that would definitely scare off any birds, if the noise hadn't already done so. But Rei was no ordinary bird. He was more man than bird, but bird enough that the Hazuki family's actions irritated him. So he stayed where he was sat and didn't move to greet Nagisa.

“What is that noise?” he asked.

“Haha! I knew you'd come complain about that,” cheered Nagisa, “It's my dad's latest idea to get those pesky crows to leave our crops alone. Do you like it?”

“No, I do not like it at all,” assured Rei, as he lifted one wing to push his glasses back up his face.

“Aww, don't be like that,” said Nagisa, puffing out his cheeks, “You know we're not doing this to spite you, right?”

“Try telling that to the birds,” said Rei.

“You're the one who can speak to them. Why don't you tell them?” Nagisa asked. His eyes lit up as if he'd had an amazing idea, “You can be, like, a human-to-bird diplomat! It'd help everyone if you could tell all the birds about how the enchantments we've put on the corn is bad for them. All the farmers around here would love you then.”

As opposed to all of them begrudging him, which Rei knew was the case. The Hazuki family weren't the only farmers who Rei lectured on a regular basis, although they were the most persistent in their activities and seemed to own the most land. They were a rather wealthy family, especially for humans who didn't have a drop of magic flowing through their veins, and with wealth came ignorance.

Except with Nagisa... Rei knew it wasn't fair to lump Nagisa in with that. Despite his blissful naivety and inability to see his family as doing anything wrong, there was a good person inside Nagisa. Which was probably why he wanted to find a solution that was best for everyone.

“Birds don't have that kind of understanding, I'm afraid. But people do. Which is why you should be the ones to listen,” Rei countered.

“Come on, you know it's already too late after dad gets Nitori to enchant the corn,” reasoned Nagisa, “All we can do now is keep the birds away. And it's working! They all flew off when they heard the noise.”

“I want to fly off after hearing that noise as well...” Rei grumbled.

“Don't do that! It's so boring around here... Everything is much more fun when Rei's around!” Nagisa pleaded.

He was probably the only person who thought that. Most people, farmers at the forefront, found Rei to be a pain. And while he was moulting, Rei was even more insufferable. But Nagisa didn't seem to mind at all. It made Rei want to drop his guard around him more than he probably should.

“I guess I could stay,” Rei replied, “But could you please turn that thing off?”

“Nope! I know you want this field for your bird friends, Rei, but I also know you don't want them to get enchanted. So as long as the noise keep them away, it stays,” Nagisa insisted.

There was no way that Rei could argue with that. Since the Hazuki family owned the land and they were far enough away from the town to not cause a noise complaint, they could essentially do whatever they wanted.

“Very well. But can we go somewhere else? Somewhere... quieter?” asked Rei.

“Sure!” Nagisa chimed, without any regard to the 'quieter' request, “It's boring standing out in a field anyway.”

Rei chose not to mention that harpies generally spent a lot of time standing out in fields. Though part of the reason that he didn't mention it was because he didn't have time to. Nagisa reached up to tug him down from the scarecrow. Before Rei knew what was happening, Nagisa had wrapped his arms around Rei's shoulder and then the two of them were in a heap on the ground, with feathers all around them. Nagisa blew a feather out of his face and started to laugh.

“Wooow! Rei! That's even more feathers than usual,” he cheered.

“Y-yes, well... it's my moulting season, so they're loose,” Rei replied, getting to his feet.

“Is that why you're all grumpy?” Nagisa asked.

“...Yes.”

There wasn't much point in lying about that.

As Rei started to walk away, Nagisa soon scrambled up and followed him, practically bouncing along. Rei wasn't as elegant on land as he was in the air, but it wasn't fair to fly when keeping the company of land-based species. Rei had human legs that let him walk on land, Nagisa did not have a pair of wings that would let him fly. Which was probably for the best, since Rei didn't think the skies would ever be ready for Nagisa.

When they got to the edge of the field, Nagisa swung on the gate as Rei pushed it open with his wings. The further they got away from the noise, the better Rei found that he felt.

“Do you want to come back to the farm with me?” Nagisa asked.

“I don't think your family will be happy to see me,” Rei pointed out. That had a lot to do with the fact that Rei usually only visited to lecture them.

“That's okay. We can go to the barn and they'll never know we're there,” Nagisa dismissed.

Once Nagisa had made up his mind, Rei couldn't argue with him. Indeed, Nagisa took hold of one of Rei's wings and almost pulled him along to the barn. Once they were inside, Nagisa sat Rei down on a soft pile of hay. Something about the spark in his eyes told Rei that Nagisa had something in mind that he wanted to do.

“Just wait there a second, okay?” Nagisa said. He was gone before Rei had a chance to answer and when he came back, he was carrying an ornate-looking comb, which he held up for Rei's inspection; “It's time to get all of those loose feathers off Rei, so he can be shiny and new again!”

“You want to... groom me?” Rei gaped.

“Sure! I bet it's hard to do all by yourself. How do you even reach the feathers on your back?” Nagisa asked.

By rubbing his back against a tree, generally.

“...With great difficulty,” Rei said. That was all the answer Nagisa was getting to that question.

“In that case, I won't take no for an answer,” said Nagisa, “Don't worry, I've practised styling my sisters' hair before, so feathers can't be too different to that.”

“I think you'll find that feathers are a lot different to- _...thaaat...!”_

Rei's sentence was cut off as soon as Nagisa started to run the comb down his back. It felt so good...! Despite Nagisa's excitable nature, he was as calm as ever when it came to doing this. Rei practically melted into the touch, the stress of the noise from earlier suddenly seeming to drift away. He heard Nagisa giggle behind him, but even that didn't spoil Rei's good mood.

“Is that all right then?” Nagisa checked, though they both already knew the answer.

“It's... it's fine...” Rei stubbornly replied.

After that, the barn filled up with Nagisa's usual chatter. He was happy enough to babble on, even when Rei's responses were often curt. Out of all of the farmers Rei knew, he had to admit that he liked Nagisa best. For some reason, Nagisa made an effort with him.

It felt all too soon by the time Nagisa was done and a pile of loose feathers lay on the ground behind Rei. Nagisa grinned at them like they were the best prize he could ask for.

“Hey Rei, do you mind if I stuff my pillows with these?” he asked.

“Do whatever you like with them. I'm just glad to have them off me,” Rei said.

“Cool! I'll gather them up later,” said Nagisa, “So now that's done... do you want to come inside? It's getting late and Mam will be making dinner soon.”

“That's very kind of you, but I don't think our dinner plans are... compatible,” Rei tactfully replied, getting to his feet. He was already having to fight off his harpy urges to go bring Nagisa a dead animal as thanks for getting rid of the loose feathers. He doubted that Nagisa would thank him for that kind of present.

“Aww, we're super compatible!” argued Nagisa, “And everyone loves Mam's takoyaki! She only uses what the local fisherman bring back, so it's the best.”

“I'm sure it is,” Rei said, as he gave Nagisa a smile, “But maybe another time. Thank you for this though. I do appreciate it.”

With that, Rei turned to make his way out of the barn. Nagisa didn't follow along behind him for once, but when Rei got out the door, he called.

“Rei...? Um, I know it's too late for the corn this year, but if I convince Dad not to enchant it next year, then do you think you'll come around more often?” Nagisa said.

How could Rei say no to a request like that?

“If it's you, Nagisa, then I'll come here no matter what your family does,” he promised.

With that, Rei took flight before his embarrassment could hold him back. Behind him, he heard Nagisa cheering with glee. He was certainly... a charming person, no matter how noisy he was. Perhaps there were some kinds of noise that Rei didn't mind so much after all.


End file.
